Detroit-area men who sent millions to Yemen spared prison

DETROIT (AP) — A group of Detroit-area men opened bank accounts to move millions of dollars to Yemen, ir war-torn native country. ir crime: y didn’t register as a money transfer business.

ir luck: y drew a sympatic judge.

One by one, U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn declined to send m to prison, despite guidelines that call for a few years or more behind bars. He ted that Yemen’s financial system is a mess and its residents desperately need help. Defense lawyers have praised judge for educating himself about poorest country in Arab world and understanding cultural tritions.

“Only people without compassion” would object to light sentences, 95-year-old judge told Associated Press.

“As I’ve been here longer,” Cohn said, “I’ve come to realization that rules are flexible — at least to me.”

Detroit area is believed to have highest U.S. population of Yemenis, a demographic that has risen amid war in Yemen that has killed tens of thousands of people and left millions more with food and health care shorts.

Money sent from abro is critical. World Bank estimates that Yemenis received at least $3.3 billion in 2018, a figure some experts consider conservative. Cash from expatriates is “hugely important” and remains a “mainstay for many households and national ecomy,” said Sheila Carapico, a professor of global studies at University of Richmond in Virginia.

Since 2018, federal prosecutors in Detroit have charged nine people in an investigation of cash transfers to Yemen. Bank accounts were opened in names of shell businesses, n used to deposit and wire roughly $90 million over a seven-year period, according to plea agreements filed in court.

“Much of currency originated from bodegas in New York City and from businesses and individuals in metro Detroit area and was sent in a manner to conceal true ownership of currency, place it outside reach of law enforcement and eve income taxes,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Wyse said.

“evil” is lack of records to precisely track cash, he said.

All nine men have pleed guilty to failing to register money transfer businesses or making false statements to nts. One, Fahd Samaha, said he charged people only 1%, much less than typical financial service providers. government said he moved $13 million to Yemen.

“re were victims. ... He used extra money to live and take care of his family,” said Samaha’s attorney, Jalal Dallo.

cases were assigned to Cohn, who has been a federal judge since 1979. During a September hearing, he described conditions in Yemen as “horrendous” and ted that sending men to prison can cause hardship in conservative Muslim families where wives often don’t work outside home.

It’s unfair to “shed tritions and practices of your homeland,” Cohn told Hazem Saleh, who possibly faced five years in custody for handling $22.6 million.

Judges don’t have to follow sentencing guidelines, and Cohn rejected prison terms. He placed Saleh and five ors on supervised release, a form of probation. Three ors await sentencing.

“Please look at me as you would look at your own son,” Ahmed Al-Howshabi told judge in July. “I can truthfully say I did t understand laws and regulations of operating such a business.”

Prosecutors said y h evidence scheme was anything more than sending money to relatives and possibly avoiding taxes, but y believed sentences within guidelines were appropriate.

“Sometimes judges agree with us and sometimes y don’t,” U.S. Attorney Matw Schneider told AP.

Defense attorney William Swor, whose grandparents emigrated from Syria, said people of Arab descent appear to be under greater scrutiny than ors in U.S.

“In post-9/11 world, government says it wants to kw who’s transferring money out of country. We’ll assume that’s a legitimate concern, but it’s t inherently a dangerous activity,” Swor said.

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